Machine for dispensing tape



June 17, 1958 H. F. HANSC OM MACHINE FOR DISPENSING TAPE 2 Sheets-Sheet1 Filed April 16, 1956 INVENTOR. Haw/112$ Ff Hansc 0/?7 A "r TORN EYSJune 17, 1958 H. F. HANSCOM 2,839,137

MACHINE FOR DISPENSING TAPE Filed April 16, 1956 2 Sheets-Sheet 2INVENTOR. Harris /-/dl78 0;

ATTORNEYS.

50' Z 4 ///////II//I// MAQHTNE non nrsrnnsmo TAPE Harris F. Hanscom,Barrington, R. 1., assignor to H. F. Hanscom & Company, inc acorporation of Rhode island I Application April 16, 1956, Serial No.578,456

3 Claims. (Cl. 164-43) The invention relates to a machine for dispensingtying tape in predetermined lengths,

An object of the invention is to provide a machine, for dispensing tape,which is so constructed as to be automatically actuated by movement ofthe tape through the machine.

Another object of the invention is to provide a machine of the abovecharacter operable for severing tape into many varied and predeterminedlengths.

Another object of the invention is to provide a machine of the abovecharacter in which movement of the metering means will actuate the tapesevering means.

Another object of the invention is to provide a machine of the abovecharacter so constructed as to be actuated by means of a manual pull onthe tape to be dispensed thereby.

With these and other objects in view, the invention consists of certainnovel features of construction as will be more fully described andparticularly pointed out in the appended claims.

In the accompanying drawings:

Figure 1 is a side elevational view of a machine for dispensing a tyingtape embodying my invention;

Figure 2 is a similar view partially in section;

Figure 3 is a sectional view taken substantially along line 3-3 ofFigure 2;

Figure 4 is a sectional view taken substantially along line 44 of Figure2;

Figure 5 is a sectional view taken substantially along line 55 of Figure1;

Figure 6 is a sectional view taken substantially along line 6-6 ofFigure 7; and

Figure 7 is a sectional view taken substantially along line '77 ofFigure 7.

The machine indicated generally 1% comprises a base 11 having a verticalwall or support 12 on which there is mounted a tape metering meansindicated generally 13. The metering means includes a disk or wheel 14which has an annular groove or recess 15 which extends inwardly at theperipheral edge of the wheel. The bottom wall 16 of the recess providesa metering surface over which the tape T is led to be measured inpredetermined lengths as will hereinafter appear. The front side 17 ofthe wheel carries a plurality of equiangular spaced characters 19, eachof which is designated in a consecutive order by consecutive numerals,as by way of example 1 to 22, and which are inch marks of thecircumference of wall 16.

The wheel 14 has a hub 20 on the rear side thereof (see Figures 4 and 5)which rotatably amounts the wheel on an axle 21. The axle has anenlarged portion 22 and a screw threaded stem 23. The portion 22 isengaged against the front side of wall 12, and the stem extends throughthe said wall 12 and is engaged by a clamp nut 24 so as to hold the axleagainst rotation. A spring casing 25 (see Figure-5) surrounds the axle2i and is held against rotation by means of screws 26 extending throughwall 12 and into the bottom wall of atent ice said casing 25. The openside of the casing faces and frictionally engages the wheel 14 andreceives the hub 20 therein. A watch type fiat torsion spring 27,enclosed within the casing 25, surrounds the hub 20 and is arrangedtosecure its ends to said casing and hub so as to bias the wheel to rotatein a counterclockwise direction as seen in Figure 1.

A pair of links 28, 28' are mounted on axle 21 for free swingingmovement and normally depends therefrom at substantially right angles tothe axis thereof, one on each side of wheel 14 (see Figure 4). The link28' is positioned between the enlarged portion 22 and the casing 25 andis thereby blocked from axial movement on axle 21. The lower end of thelinks are connected to each other in parallel relation by a stud and/ orthe like fastening 29.

A coupling member 39, which has an enlarged head 31 and a screw threadedshank 32, is rotatably mounted on axle 21 at the front side 17 of thewheel 14 in juxtaposition to link 28, a split ring fastening 33 beingprovided to prevent withdrawal of member 39 from the axle. The head 31has a diametrical slot 31 in which is snugly received the adjacentportion of the link 28 and through which the links 28 are coupled tomember Sil so as to move in unison therewith. An indicator or pointer 34is rotatably received on the shank 32 and frictionally abuts against thehead 31, a clamp nut 35 threaded on shank 32 securing the pointer 34 inadjusted position on member 39. Thus, members 28 and 34 form anadjustable pair of arms wherein any angular spacing between the arms 34and the arm 23 may be had. The mating surfaces between pointer 34 andhead 31 may be each roughened as by means of radial teeth and/or thelike so as to assure a positive engagement therebetween.

There is mounted about the pivot of roll 36 a swingable membercomprising a pair of depending links ll and 41' (see Figure 3). Thesestraddle roll 36 and extend in parallel relation and pass between a pairof spaced bars 42, 43 secured to the wall 12 as at 44 and which extendin a generally horizontal direction. Two abutments 45 and 46, which maybe formed of any resilient material, as for example, rubber and/ or thelike, are fastened between the bars 42, 43. These limit the swing oflinks 41 which are resiliently biased to be normally held against theinner abutment 46 by means of a pull spring 47 which is secured at oneend to said links as at 48 and at the other to the bars 42, 43 as at 49.

The lower terminal of links 41 is pivotally connected as at 51 to ablock 61 secured to a spacer 61' at one end of a second pair of links56, 5h. The other ends of links 50 straddle links 28 and are pivotallysecured thereto as at 52, which point represents approximately theradius of wall 15. A guide means designated generally 318 is positionedbetween the links 53 and is attached thereto as by means of studfastenings 53 and 54 so as to be held and moved with said links 5d. Theguide means comprises an elongated bar 50 which extends from a positionbetween links 28, 28 and a U- shaped member 39 which embraces one end ofthe bar 4% to form a channel 39. As viewed in Figure 2, the tape T isled from a supply such as a spool (not shown) mounted on bracket 12' andpassed over a guide roll 3-6 mounted for rotation at the upper left endportion of the wall 12, thence to the lower side of guide' roll 37 andupwardly therefrom on to Wall 3.6 so as to he traveled thereabout in aclockwise direction. The tape is passed about the wall 15 and is ledtherefrom by a guide means 38. The tape T is led from the guide channel39 to be passed between links 41 and 41' adjacent to the pivot 51. Itwill be apparent that in swinging the links 28 in a clockwise directionagainst of a cutter mechanism indicated generally '55 which is actuatedthrough the movement of the above described linkage and comprises afirst cutter part 56 which is carried at the lower end of the links 41and 41 and is secured in position by means of a block 57 positioned inthe space between links 41, 4F. and secured thereto as at 53. The cutter56 is secured to the block as by means of cap screws 59. The knife edge60 of the cutter56 is arranged to be at a position a slight distanceabove thepath of the tape when pulled past the same.

The other or second cutter part comprises a block 63. secured to spacer61 between links 5%, 549. An elongated blade 62, which lifts the tapeabove the block 61 after a cut has been effected, is secured to thebight of a U-shaped member 63 (see Figure 6), which is pivotally mountedon the stud fastening 53. The blade 62 extends to position its free endclosely adjacent the cutting edge of cutter edge as and is resilientlyheld in position by means of a torsion spring 64 (see Figure 7) havingone branch 65 thereof secured to the stud 54 and its other branch 66anchored beneath the member 63. t The bar 49 which forms the lower wallof recess 39 is ex: tended beyond the recess and is undercut on a slantas at 40' to provide an abutment against which. the blade 62 abuts inthe normal position thereof.

In operation, the tape T is first properly threaded through the machineand with a portion of the tape extending beyond links 41 adistancesuflicient so as to provide a purchase thereon by the operator. Thepointer 34 is adjusted to be opposite a character 19 indicating thelength of the tape to be dispensed. This may be accomplished byloosening clamp nut 35 and manually moving the pointer to the propercharacter. 19. The

clamp nut 35 is thereafter turned to secure the pointer in the nowadjusted relation on member 3%. .Assume the pointer 34 has been adjustedto the circle indicated 5 as seen in Figure 1 so as to set the machineto dispense a length of tape five inches long. The free end of the tapewhich extends beyond links 41 may now be grasped by the operator andpulled. The friction of the tape on the wall 16 will turn the wheel 14against the spring bias thereon. The wheel 14 has an abutment 67 fixedthereto which moves with the wheel as thesame is rotated. Dur- 1 ing thepull on the tape, the abutment 67 is carried bythe turning wheel andwill engage the pointer 34 to couple the wheel to the linkage 23, 5t and41. Further pull on the tape will cause the wheel and pointer to rotatetogether, and since the links 28 are fixed to pointer 3 they will swingin a clockwise direction about the axle 21. This motion will betransmitted through links 50. to swing links 41 outwardly and lessen theincluded angle between these pairs of links, thus moving knife edge andblock 61 toward each other and severing the tape positionedtherebetween, as indicated in broken lines in Figure 1. At the severingof the tape, the links ll, 41' under action of spring 47, and augmentedby the action of gravity, will swing in the return direction to initialposition to move cutters 56 and 61 apart, the abutment 46 absorbing theshock of thereturning links. Additionally, the blade 62 'will raiseunder the action of spring 64- and serve as a guide to feed the tapebetween the cutters 56 and 61 when they move apart. The spring 27 havingbeen torsioned is now free to act and will return the wheel to initialposition, the shock being absorbed by the abutment67.

Upon severing of the tape, the same will be free of tension and therotation of the wheel 14 in the counter-clockwise direction will notcause any feedback of tape due to the nearly bend imparted thereto atroller 37 and the lack of driving friction of the tape against wall 16.The cutter part 56 will, however, be in contact with the severed end ofthe tape. Consequently, during the return swing of links all, the tapewill be pushed and fed back against blade 62, through guide recess 39,and along the bar 40 and then will buckle'from the point the bar 40 istangent to wall 16 reversely around the wall 16 so as to liftasemiannular weight 68, as shown in broken lines in Figure 2. Upon thecutter part beingfree of the tape, the same will be free to move tobetween links 41. In order to advance the fed back tape portion, thesemi-annular weight 63. having an enlongated slot 69 is rockably mountedon the wall 12 by means of a pin 76 which projects therefrom at alocation slightly above the outer periphery of the wheel, the pin beingreceived in slot 69. The member 68 extends about wall 16, as seeninFigure 2, and normally lies on the tape about the wall 16. As the tapebegins to buckle, as above described, member 68 will yield; that is, itwill be rocked upwardly to the position shown in broken lines (Figure2). Upon the tape being free of cutter part 56, the return of weight 68to its initial position will advance it so as to project through andbeyond the links 41 a distance equal to the distance of outward swing oflinksdl at the cutter part 56. 'Thus, the tape will be at a position foranother cycle of operation.

It will now be apparent from the above description that the traveling ofthe tape turns the wheel 14 and the turning of the wheel actuates thecutting mechanism. ,Thus, the various moving parts of the machineactuated to meter and severthe tape are directly responsive to theaction of the tape being pulled through the machine. a 7' in the above.description the term tape has been employed in a general sense and hasreference to any of various types of strands or strip material which hassufficient rigidity to be self-sustained and capable of being advancedthrough guide 39 by a pushing-like action thereon.

I claim: 7 V

l. A machine for dispensing tape and the like in predetermined lengthscomprising a rotatably mounted Wheel over which the tape passes tobemeasured, said wheel being rotated in one direction by the tapetraveling through said machine; a tape severing means actuatedby saidwheel and means carried by said wheel for coupling said Wheel to saidsevering means to be actuated thereby during a predeterminedangularrotationbf said wheel in the said one direction, and meansoperable to automatically rotate said wheel in the other direction toinitial position upon the said severing of said tape.

2. A machine according to claim 1 wherein said wheel is spring biased inone directionof rotationthereof.

3. A machine according to claim 1 wherein said means for coupling saidwheel to said severing means comprises 'a linkage including anadjustable arm which is pivotally mounted for swinging movement aboutthe axis of rotation of said wheel and means carried by said wheel andmovable therewidi for rocking said arm aboutits pivot.

4. A machine according to claim 1 wherein said tape severing meanscomprises a pair of cutter members mounta predeterminedangular rotationof said wheel in the said one direction, and means operabletoautomatically rotate said wheel in the other direction to initialposition upon the said severing of said tape.

6. A machine according to claim 5 wherein said linkage includes anindicating pointer adjustably alfixed to one end thereof so that it maybe positioned at predetermined angular relation to said Wheel to beengaged by said abutment.

7. A machine for dispensing tape and the like in predetermined lengthscomprising a rotatable Wheel about which the tape extends, said wheelbeing rotated in one direction by the travel of the tape through themachine, a cutter mechanism actuated by said wheel for severing saidtape, said cutter mechanism including a linkage coupled thereto with oneportion thereof mounted for rocking movement about the axis of saidwheel, and means carried by said wheel for engaging said linkage andcoupling said wheel to said cutter mechanism upon a predeterminedangular rotation of said Wheel.

8. A machine for dispensing tape and the like in predetermined lengthcomprising a rotatable wheel about which the tape extends, said Wheelbeing rotated by the travel of the tape through the machine, a cuttermechanism comprising a pair of tape severing elements between which thetape passes, means pivotally relating said cutter elements comprising alinkage, said linkage including a first link pivotally mounted at oneend thereof for rocking movement in a vertical plane, a second linkpivotally mounted at one end thereof to the other end of the said firstlink, a third link pivotally mounted for rocking movement about the axisof rotation of said wheel and having an end thereof pivotally connectedto the other end of the said second link, said cutter elements beingcarried by the said first and the said second links adjacent to thepivotal connection of said links to each other, and means carried bysaid Wheel for engaging a portion of said third link actuating saidlinkage to move said cutter elements toward each other so as to seversaid tape upon a predetermined angular rotation of said Wheel.

References Cited in the tile of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS1,087,804 Metzenbacher Feb. 17, 1914 1,447,735 Simone Mar. 6, 1923.1,684,158 Strom et a1 Sept. 11, 1928 1,732,636 Gautier et al Oct. 22,1929 1,772,170 Uttz Aug. 5, 1930 1,887,466 Nelson Nov. 8, 1932 1,953,196Smith et a1 Apr. 3, 1934 1,993,951 Ashe Mar. 12, 1935 2,032,643 WestboMar. 3, 1936 2,642,936 Semler June 23, 1953 2,713,904 Ostuw et al July26, 1955 OTHER REFERENCES Crispins Dictionary of Technical Terms, TheBruce Publishing Co. (Milwaukee), 1946, p. 192.

Chambers Technical Dictionary (revised edition), The MacMillan Co. (NewYork), 1948, p. 409.

